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Readers!

 

My July fund-raising campaign to celebrate the fifteenth anniversary since I began Behind the Black is now over. I want to thank all those who so generously donated or subscribed, especially those who have become regular supporters. I can't do this without your help. I also find it increasingly hard to express how much your support means to me. God bless you all!

 

The donations during this year's campaign were sadly less than previous years, but for this I blame myself. I am tired of begging for money, and so I put up the campaign announcement at the start of the month but had no desire to update it weekly to encourage more donations, as I have done in past years. This lack of begging likely contributed to the drop in donations.

 

No matter. I am here, and here I intend to stay. If you like what I do and have not yet donated or subscribed, please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:

 

1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.

 

2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
 

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4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
 
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You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.


Update on launch schedule for India’s manned space program

According to the head of India’s space agency ISRO, V Narayanan, the first unmanned Gaganyaan orbital mission is now targeting a launch in the last quarter of this year, followed by two more unmanned test flights in 2026 and the manned mission of one to three days flying in the first quarter of 2027.

This schedule appears more firm than any previously announced. When first proposed back in 2018, ISRO’s goal was to launch the first manned mission in 2022. And like all government projects, the launch date kept getting pushed back again and again. ISRO officials will blame the COVID panic for these delays, but that’s hogwash. While ISRO shut down for almost two years out of fear of a only slightly more potent illness than the flu, others did not, and ended up stealing almost all of ISRO’s commercial business as a result.

The delays in Gaganyaan also stem from the unrealistic goals first put forth by ISRO. For example, initially the program did not include these unmanned test flights, a lack that was foolish and later corrected.

Based on all reports in the past year, however, it appears that this newest schedule probably reflects reality, and will take place more or less as described.

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 

The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.


The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
 

"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

One comment

  • James Street

    “The delays in Gaganyaan also stem from the unrealistic goals first put forth by ISRO.”

    Also India culture doesn’t have a lot of daring and huevos versus American culture that will push ahead. This is another downside of flooding America with a bunch of India coders.

    And they throw hissy fits under pressure. There’s a hilarious one minute YouTube video “Two Indian men arguing” (warning, extremely vulgar) and at the end they realize they don’t know why they’re arguing and tell each other to have a nice day.

Readers: the rules for commenting!

 

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